Slum health in the municipality of São Paulo: development of a health vulnerability index and disease and mortality risk calculation for low population intra-urban areas

Abstract

Half the world's population became urban in 2008. Projections for the period of 2007 to 2050 indicate a worldwide increase of 2.5 billion people. Population growth will increase urban inequities in megacities of developing countries. In these locations, the growth will be represented in large part by residents of slums, dwelling place for the population officially recognized as vulnerable. Health data are used as basic measures or as indicators of well-being and social inequalities, while the place itself has been understood as a risk factor for a healthy life. The municipality of São Paulo is a good example of a megacity of a developing country, also classified as upper middle-income, with a strong presence of slums. Public policies for these places were quite expressive in the last two decades, promoting an increase in the heterogeneity of infrastructure and housing conditions. The regular doctoral research proposes to measure the associations between components of health vulnerability and the precarious characteristics of the place (characteristics of poor housing solutions, infrastructure and local susceptibility). Within the scope of this BEPE project, specifically, it is proposed the search for theoretical, conceptual and practical support for the development of the multidimensional health index. The health index is expected to capture intra-urban health inequalities in the municipality of São Paulo, particularly between the slum units, by using socioeconomic, demographic and health data. The internship at CEGOT will provide the basis for determining a robust multidimensional health vulnerability index, given the researchers' experience with the EURO-Healthy project and in calculating mortality and disease risk into low population area units. (AU)